Pressure on unionised workers

The Turkish union Deri-Is asked the Clean Clothes Campaign for support in a case of dismissal of four union members and intimidation of union members at the Ismaco factory. The Clean Clothes Campaign engaged with the Dutch owner and Italian buyers, and worked closely with Italian trade unions.

“Managers called us one by one to their rooms to identify union members, and tried to convince us to resign from the union. The ones who did not want to resign from the union were put under pressure and threatened with dismissal.” - Deri-IS factory worker

The management of the Turkish Ismaco factory, established for direct production for the Italian brand Zegna, has repeatedly dismissed, intimidated and discriminated against union members. The Turkish Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) conducted interviews with workers at the factory, who described a hostile situation at the workplace and an anti-union attitude of the Ismaco management.

Freedom of association

Together with Italian trade unions, CCC expressed concerns about the dismissals and discrimination against unionised workers, and urged the Italian-based buyers to take action against Deri-Is by starting a dialogue with the union in order to raise these worker rights violations.

They were requested to ensure that the management reinstate the dismissed workers and end the hostile attitude towards union members, meet with the Deri-Is trade union and negotiate on all the problems at the factory in good faith, promote respect for freedom of association as a fundamental right, and ensure that workers can freely become and remain union members and join union activities.